"In the mid 19th century there was a tremendous cultural fad in both England and America for the Orient. And this is the advent of the Orientalists who were not, contrary to Edward Said, and all that nonsense, they were not Islamophobic haters of Islam who were trying to make the mysterious East look like a den of thieves and liars and killers and so on. They actually had a warm, positive, and favourable interest toward the Middle East and toward Islam in particular. I think it carries over into the sources that Washington Irving used when he wrote his own biography of Muhammad.
But, also, the British Empire started to foster this, and actively to push a favourable view of Islam because they were allying with the Ottoman Empire against the Russians in the Crimea War in the mid 19th century. And there was a lot of outrage in England over this. And the people saying 'how could you ally with our ancient enemy that has been fighting Christendom for over a thousand years. And now we're pals? Now we're friends and working for common interests against another Christian nation?' And a lot of people were very angry in England and so the British government actually made a concerted effort to have scholars and molders of opinion craft favourable views of Islam and Muhammad in particular. And a lot of that is where the Islam is a religion of peace nonsense was born." - Robert Spencer, an excerpt from his latest interview below with Jay Smith.
Video Title: Spencer's new book: "Muhammad, a Critical Biography" confronts Muhammad's existence! Source: PfanderFilms. Date Published: August 7, 2025. Description:
Robert Spencer looks at the first 3 chapters of his new book: "Muhammad, a Critical Biography", which is absolutely timely, considering what has happened to the breakdown of historical support, even by Muslims scholars, for the existence of Muhammad in the last few weeks.
Jay begins this interview by asking Robert what exactly is the "Sunnah"?
Robert explains that the Sunnah is what Muhammad supposedly said and did, according to the earliest sources in Islam (the Hadith and the Sira). Yet, those sources don't have much credibility within Western academic institutions any more, especially due to the admission last month by two of the Muslim world's best scholars, Dr Yasir Qadhi and Dr Shabir Ally, that the Hadith and Sira are now considered "Discredited" by Western academics, and Muslims are waiting for anyone to 'write a book' to prove their credibility historically.